Disclaimer- The only thing that belongs to me is the plot. Everything else belongs to J. K. Rowling and the publishers maybe etc.

Harry answered “Yes” and soon he was up and dressed and in the common room as the early risers awoke eager to start their first day.
Sure enough, before long Hermione was down the stairs. She was fully dressed and her hair as wild as usual. She had an assortment if books in her arms.

“Harry? You’re not usually up this early.” She said as she sat down on the sofa next to him, her face etched with concern. She really didn’t miss anything; she wasn’t called the cleverest witch of her year for nothing.

“Bad dream.” He said in a small voice, still ashamed of how he had let everyone down over the summer.
“What happened?” She asked, giving him her full attention.
“Just…nothing, it’s fine now. I’m meeting Dumbledore tonight.” Harry said in an attempt to change he topic of conversation. He didn’t know why but he just didn’t feel in the mood to talk about it.

Hermione was about to argue when a Gryffindor by the name of Romilda vane came and sat down on the arm of the chair which Harry was sat on.
She wasn’t dressed in her robes yet and so she was modelling her nightgown. It was quite short he noticed.
“Hi Harry.” She said in a flirtatious voice. She was a fourth year. Romilda had large, dark eyes, long, curly black hair and a prominent chin. Harry could hear her friends behind giggling
.
“Erm, hi…” Harry searched his brain for her name, “Romilda”; he hoped desperately it was the right one.
She smiled, leaning in closer; she looked over at Hermione and looked disappointed about something. Harry could smell her; he didn’t know how someone who just got out of bed could smell so…good?

“Are you coming to breakfast Harry?” She asked fluttering her eyelashes.
Why was she asking? It was hardly as if she could go down, she wasn’t properly dressed. Harry looked over at Hermione; she seemed to be thinking fast, and then discretely mouthed ‘waiting for Ron.’
“Ron…Erm I’m waiting for Ron, my friend.”

She seemed to accept this. “Well I’ll see you later then?”

“Yeah?” Harry said confused, why would he see her later, he couldn’t recall her having even spoken to her in his life.

As she and her crowd of giggling girls left, the atmosphere felt a lot more relaxed.

“You shouldn’t have said yes” Hermione was explaining as he, Hermione and Ron, left for the great hall for breakfast.
“Well what else could I have said?” Harry said feeling frustrated as even more girls smiled at him as he walked.

Hermione sighed, and looked at them as if they were incredibly slow, “Go out with someone.”

“No” Harry said firmly.

“What?” Ron said confused, looking at some of the girls longingly as they arrived in the great hall.

“They are too much stress, I want a girl free year.” Harry said, although he was sure he heard an increase in whispering from behind him as he said it. Making a mental note to lower his voice.

“Good luck with that.” Ginny said as she arrived in the hall and grabbed a piece of toast. She seemed to have come from nowhere.

“What?” Ron said confused.

“I was talking to Harry, about his girl free year. It was all I heard when I went to talk to Luna.”

“Shit.” Harry swore under his breath.

McGonagall also appeared to come from nowhere as she stood behind him and handed them their time tables, giving Harry a reprimanding stare, Ron snickered. Harry wondered how had she heard that.

Harry had a bad day today according to his timetable. Period. Transfiguration, double potions, care of magical creatures and defence against the dark arts.

“Wonder who the teacher is.” said Ron, who was also looking at DADA on his time table. Where Harry had potions, Ron had divination because Ron hadn’t got a high enough grade. Hermione however obviously had.

“I don’t know” Hermione said quietly. It was odd to hear her say such a thing, Ron obviously agreed by his look of bewilderment.
Ron and Harry ate eagerly but Hermione seemed to be distracted.

“10 galleons she has guessed why he doesn’t turn up in the hall and how he will try and kill me by the end of the year.” Harry said as he had a bite of toast.
“Alright, but I'm betting 10 galleons she knows by the first quidditch match” Ron said loudly.
“Yeah, damn, you’re right; I’ll probably be dead by the end of the year.” Harry said normally, as if a matter of fact.
Ginny and Ron simultaneously choked. Then they and Hermione and Neville all stared at Harry in bafflement. As if they had seen as ghost (in the muggle way), Harry thought in quite comical how their mouth’s were all hanging open. Hermione actually seemed speechless. A first.

“Come on; don’t want to be late for transfiguration, do we?” Harry said jumping up as he thought the silence by his friends was annoying. He was quickly walking away from his open mouth friends as Cho came over, the timing made Harry get the odd feeling he had been watched.

“Harry?” she asked, Harry internally wondered why she asked, it wasn’t like he was a death eater and if he was having taken polyjuice potion he would have said yes anyway.
“Hey Cho.” He said automatically.

“Where are you?” She smiled sweetly. As they walked out of the hall together. He couldn’t help but notice how noticeably quieter the hall had gotten, it was as though all eyes were on him, they were, even Malfoy’s.
“Transfiguration.”
“Oh, I’m going that way, I’ll come with you.”

It felt a bit awkward to Harry as he walked the corridor with his ex-girlfriend, but she didn’t mind, she was humming happily.
“Are you going the DA again this year?” She asked, breaking the silence.
“Well, I wasn’t planning on it; it depends on who the teacher is.”

“If you don’t but I have some problems with spells, can I come to you?” She asked, leaning closer to him, she smelled very different that Romilda had; Cho smelled less artificial and not so overpowering. She was watching him intently, looking up through her eyelashes at him. He was acutely aware he had moved away from Cho but she had advanced and he was now pressed against the wall.
At that point he heard footsteps around the corner and looked down at her, she seemed to be waiting for him to do something, but he couldn’t think what.
“Harry!” Hermione’s voice came; she looked as if she had practically ran all the way there. Cho seemed a lot less pleased to see Hermione. In fact Cho’s eyes seemed to have a weird glint in them as she eyed the girl. Ron had now also caught up.
“I’ll see you later, Harry” Cho said as she hugged his motionless body. She hurried back the direction they had walked previously.
“Told you the no girl thing wouldn’t work” Ron said with a sympathetic smile at Harry’s perplexed face.

“Harry, what you said before-” Hermione began, having caught her breath. However, more students had now appeared in the corridor and she couldn’t finish the sentence as it was too private for other listening students to hear. So instead to the annoyance of Hermione they entered the classroom.

Professor McGonagall arrived and spent a while taking about the importance of the year they were going to have and how impressed with their grades she was. They spent the rest of the lesson trying to make move inanimate objects, Hermione was the only one who could, and the rest of the class including Harry and Ron got a pile of homework.
Harry and Hermione said goodbye to Ron as he left to go to Divination. As the two Gryffindors arrived they were exasperated to find other than Ernie, Dean and Seamus the rest of the class were slytherins Malfoy included.
“So Potter, Cry to Dumbledore to get you into potions? I'm just surprised the mudblood got the mark.” Draco yelled out in the class as Snape wrote on the board.
“Ignore him” Hermione said as she got her text book out, but Harry couldn’t help notice she was blinking furiously.

The rest of the class was just as bad or worse considering it was double Snape. Harry felt his patience was being tested as he heard Malfoy say irrelevant and offensive comments the entire lesson. At some point he kept spinning his wand around in his hand whilst thinking of all the spells he so desperately wished he could do.
After enduring that the lesson was over and he and Hermione left for lunch as quickly as they could. Ron and Neville were already there and had saved them both a place.
“Reckon she misses you mate, Predicted the death of the whole class.” Ron said happily as he tucked into a sandwich, “Care of magical creatures next, that’ll be good.”
“Hope so, need some distraction from Snape.”
“That bad?” Ron asked. Hermione took out a book as she didn’t seem like she wanted to talk about it. Malfoy had said a lot of bad things about Harry and her in it, Harry thought it hurt her more than she let on.
“Malfoy’s in it”
Neville and Ron smiled sympathetically.
“Don’t let him get to you.” Neville said earnestly.
However that was easier said than done.

Lunch was quite a quiet affair after that. Harry felt last night catching up with him. He had been so used to sleeping several days at a time, he felt worse than he should. The only thought keeping him going was the thought of finding out who the DADA teacher was.
In care of magical creatures, Hagrid had a new bruise on his face, presumably from Gwarp, his half giant sibling. Malfoy wasn’t in the class though which pleased Harry greatly. The lesson was over quickly and by the time it was getting dark and Harry was only thinking about his lesson with Dumbledore; it was time for Defence against the dark arts.

They all walked the familiar route and stood outside the closed door, waiting for the mysterious teacher to arrive. As the hand on Hermione’s watch changed to the exact time, the door slowly opened to show a dimly lit room, which reminded Harry of Snape’s dungeon. The windows had blackened curtains which blocked out all natural light. Dimly lit candles had been placed on each desk. Every student just stared in until “I have not got all day” said a voice. The voice sounded funny. It was an old voice that sounded slightly out of date; the man also had an accent which Harry couldn’t recognise. They couldn’t see him, just a dark corner which they presumed he was standing in. Every one was quiet as they cautiously walked in. The three friends told the second row from the front. Harry sat on the isle seat and Hermione in the middle, with Ron on the other edge seat nearest the wall. As everyone sat down the room was immersed in silence again. The man came slightly forwards so they could see his silhouette. He was wearing a heavy black coat with the hood over his face.
“I am Professor Desdemona I shall be your teacher for this school year.”
Ernie put up his hand.
“Yes Macmillan?” Desdemona said in a mundane voice. The rest of the class where surprised as Ernie hadn’t mentioned his surname.
“You’re only staying for one year” Ernie said, saying what was on everyone’s minds.
“That is not a question.”
The pupils were still again; stunned by the harshness in his tone, even Malfoy and the other slytherins were silent.
“I am here to teach you how to defend yourself and I shall do so whether it kills me, which it probably shall.” Harry was sure that by his tone he smiled at his last remark.

“Rules. Always be armed with your wands out, period. You are not to cast lumos or bring any light emitting objects into this classroom, break anyone these rules and the consequences shall be fatal.
Harry wondered why didn’t he want them to see his face.
Everyone was hurriedly taking their wands out; Harry was quite pleased he had taken it out as soon as he got into the room. Hermione was trying hard to write notes in the dim light.

“Granger. No notes”
Hermione stopped instantly and seemed quite shocked and taken back.

“What were you writing? He hasn’t told us to write anything?” Ron whispered.

“Oh, you wouldn’t understand” She snapped quietly. Before turning her eyes back on the shadow of their professor.

“Any questions?” The professor asked.

Harry then spoke out, “How do we know we can trust?” , he hadn’t raised his arm, he didn’t trust the strange teacher, every part instinct in his body was telling him not to. Harry couldn’t even see his face there could have been an ambush before they arrived; the stranger could be a death eater. Although they couldn’t see the teacher, the lighting had been done just so the teacher from where he was standing could see every child in the room.

Every face in the room looked at Harry, perhaps because they couldn’t see the teacher’s reaction. There was a haunting silence as they waited for the response. When the answer came it was spoken quietly; the figure had the whole class’s undivided attention.
“I would have thought that were simple, Mr. Potter” The professor responded slowly but casually, and then finishing with, “You can’t. Class dismissed.”

As the figure finished, even though the lighting was poor they were sure he had gone into his office because they heard the sound of his door being locked and the room in silence as the candles were extinguished, leaving them in absolute pitch black darkness.

A.N. Chapter finished. Let me know what you think and I’ll be really grateful. What did we think? Cliff hanger enough? If not don’t worry I can get a hell of a lot worse than that. Still no beta, email me or put it in a review if you want to be, I’d really appreciate it.
Claire xx